Prashant Ram, P.E. recently represented APTech at the 2023 Northwest Pavement Management Association (NWPMA) Conference held in Portland, Oregon from October 24-27. While there, he delivered two presentations detailing APTech’s work with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to better equip the nation’s pavement infrastructure for today’s unique challenges.

Next-Generation Performance Measures

Prashant’s first talk, titled “Next-Generation Performance Measures for Pavement Management,” discussed APTech’s research, conducted in partnership with the FHWA, to identify performance measures that drive sustainable and long-term performance management. These next-generation performance measures—including lifecycle and financial performance metrics—can be used in combination with traditional condition-based measures such as rutting, cracking, or roughness to better inform pavement management decision-making.

Impact of Wildfires on Pavement Systems

Prashant’s second presentation addressed the impact of wildfires to our nation’s pavement infrastructure. This topic is part of a larger research project APTech is conducting with the FHWA focusing on pavement resilience. During his talk, Prashant discussed the recent increase in intensity and size of wildfires, especially in the Western states, due to climate change. These wildfires have devastating impacts, both direct and indirect, to roadways. In addition to summarizing the current body of knowledge, this presentation also identified knowledge gaps that require future research and showcased lessons learned from highway agency experiences in managing wildfires.

Check out our applied research resources to learn more about how APTech is paving the way for sustainability.